This little black box could change the way internet works in Africa

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Kenyan-based tech company BRCK developed this modem made with Africa's limited connection and power in mind.

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"We asked ourselves why we're using technology designed to work in London or New York when we live in Nairobi," says BRCK CEO Erik Hersman. "This led us to create something that has true redundancies built in. It can work for a full 8-hour workday without external power and it will allow 20 devices to connect to it at one time."

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In 2015, BRCK began the initiative BRCK Education to deliver reliable internet access to schools in remote areas.

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Light House Grace Academy in Kawangware, Nairobi, is one of the first schools to test out BRCK's "Kio Kit" -- a tough tablet designed to provide digital education to primary school children.

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Light House Grace Academy schoolmaster Pastor George Njenga says: "When the Kio Kit came to our school it changed the way learning is done in class. It's very user-friendly and makes learning interesting."

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"The Kio Kit allows the learning of several subjects with ease because everything is stored in the memory of the tablet; one can switch from one topic to the next easily," says schoolmaster Pastor George.

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"The Kio Kit has made the work of the teacher very easy," says George. "The teacher only needs to instruct and the students follow as they listen to the lesson through the microphones that come with the kit."

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The Academy currently teaches over 600 children and the Kio Kit, with its resilient and compact design is proving successful so far. Pastor George says: "This kit is what is needed, especially here in African schools were electricity and space is a problem."

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Since 2013, BRCK has sold over 2,500 devices in 54 countries. CEO Erik Hersman says: "The next generation of BRCK device will come out this year as well, and as you can imagine, there is a lot of engineering and testing being pushed into that product."

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Kenyan tech start-up BRCK has secured $3 million in funding for an invention that could change the face of internet connectivity across Africa